Seattle Mariners announce a very interesting move before the final of the Sunday series

In a surprise move, the Seattle Mariners announced that starting pitcher Luis Castillo will get the ball in Sunday’s final game of the series against the Minnesota Twins at T-Mobile Park.

Daniel Kramer of MLB.com had the following information about “X”:

Castillo moves up in the rotation to take the place of the injured Bryan Woo, who was scheduled to pitch. He is on the injured list with a hamstring strain and has no immediate timetable for his return.

This move is surprising for several reasons, so let’s break it down:

1) The team has already created a roster spot for Jhonathan Diaz. Diaz clearly seemed like the one who should take Woo’s place in the rotation, so why waste a roster spot on him if he’s not going to pitch? The M’s could have kept another reliever for this weekend series if Diaz hadn’t pitched. Will Diaz start the game on Tuesday (after the off day) or will he be used as a reliever on Sunday if necessary? Given that the M’s have another off day on Monday, will they skip Woo’s place in the rotation altogether?

2) Castillo hasn’t been pitching so well lately. Castillo has been roughed up by both Cleveland and Tampa Bay in his last two starts, so it’s certainly questionable whether he’ll be moved up a few days. Castillo has four days off, so that’s not an absurd schedule, but the veteran looks like he could use more rest — not less. He’s much better at home, though (2.96 ERA), so perhaps the M’s believe he can follow up that success.

3) Perhaps the reason for this move was the Twins’ lineup. Minnesota has a very right-handed team with Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Carlos Correa and Ryan Jeffers. Perhaps Servais thought the right-hander would be a better opponent than Diaz.

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